Norway urges NATO debate of missile shield

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway called on Tuesday for a thorough debate among NATO allies on the United States' plan for a European missile defense system and said more clarity was needed on the threats the shield was meant to thwart.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told Reuters in an interview that NATO should also discuss boosting the civilian side of the international effort to stabilize Afghanistan -- NATO's biggest joint operation -- and involving more Afghans.

Those topics and others, such as Kosovo, the Balkans and the Middle East, will come up at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in the Norwegian capital on Thursday and Friday.

Stoere said NATO's Riga summit last year gave a mandate to discuss missile defense but those discussions were unfinished.

"The discussion around that should happen in a NATO context," Stoere said. "In general, key security issues should be issues among allies.

"To the extent that this is a matter for the NATO allies, and I think it is, it should be dealt with among NATO allies and not be derailed," Stoere said.

The U.S. plan has angered Russia, which fears it is intended to neutralize Moscow's missile arsenal, though Washington says it is meant to defend against missiles from "rogue states" such as North Korea or Iran.

The plan, which has also raised hackles in Europe, involves deploying 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic from 2012. Washington has offered Moscow a chance to cooperate in the project.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will attend the Oslo session of the NATO-Russia council on Thursday, toned down criticism of the plan on Tuesday and said Russia saw no interest in joining since Washington had already taken the key decisions.

"We need more clarity about the threats it is meant to address, the effectiveness of this kind of response to that kind of threat, and also on whether this kind of approach may trigger another spiral of the arms race," Stoere said.

"Of course it is the United States' right to address this from their perspective," he said. "But Norway from its perspective has a reluctant approach to missile defense."

"AFGHAN FACE"

Stoere said the growing Afghan army had made progress and shown itself to be a quality force. He said now NATO should look for ways to boost Afghan involvement.

"NATO's core function is obviously military security, but it has to be done hand-in-hand with other efforts aimed at building institutions, building governance, giving an Afghan face to the way key Afghan challenges are solved," Stoere said.

"Our men and women in uniform tell us 'Make no mistake, we can provide security, but don't count on us for delivering schools and roads and water and good governance'. That has to be done by the Afghans, supported by the international community."

Stoere said the meetings in Oslo, which will also include a "trans-Atlantic dinner" involving six non-NATO European Union members, should also strive for a common understanding on Kosovo, the alliance's other big operation.

"We need to get good coordination between the EU and NATO in the way we handle Kosovo in front of the Security Council," he said about the breakaway Serbian province which seeks full independence from Belgrade after a bloody civil conflict.